Golf Course Architecture - Issue 58 October 2019

71 options that allow golfers to capitalise on precision play, without necessarily crashing out of the hole if that big miss rears its head. With fewer holes to accommodate on the site, Mandell could eliminate areas with poorer soil and use the topography of the property to its best. In doing so, he has let the land dictate the routing. Any preconceived notions about pacing of holes were thrown out, instead he embraces the quirky results, notably a six-hole stretch from the third that alternates between par threes and par fives. The course is all the better for it and passes the test of greatness: every hole is memorable, even after a single play. Some are particularly so. The par-three thirteenth, a mid-iron from the top of a hill in the centre of the property, is exhilarating. On the par-five fourth, players are compelled to choose one of two very different routes to the hole separated by three bunkers cut into a hillside. I took the high route and didn’t quite hit the distance required for the second shot to kick all the way to the green, but was left with a delightful bump-and-run shot down the hill to a plateaued green. That fourth hole is the first of a remarkable set of par fives. The first three are reachable in two if you’ve chosen the correct tees from the set of six on each hole. But the undulating fairway of the sixth means you’ll need to catch a decent lie, and an innocuous-looking bunker in the middle of the eighth fairway, about eighty yards short of the green, will curse you with indecision. The par fives on the back nine will see fewer eagle putts. Elevated tees cut into the hillside invite you to grip-and- rip from the eleventh tee, to the most undulating fairway on the course. The second half of the hole rises sharply uphill to a perched green protected by two deep bunkers. The sixteenth is heroic. The tee shot plays over a large lake to a wide fairway (progressively less carry is required as you move up the tees, with the first two avoiding the carry altogether). If your drive comes to rest far up the left “A six-hole stretch from the third alternates between par threes and par fives” Above, the par-four opening hole. Left, the par-three thirteenth, which plays from hilltop tees. In the background is the fourth green and the par-four fourteenth hole Photos: Peter Wong